Royal Bank of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Stock Price

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its price objective lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from $107.00 to $115.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Northern Trust from $110.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Northern Trust from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.75.

Northern Trust Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $110.92 on Friday. Northern Trust has a 1 year low of $76.67 and a 1 year high of $111.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50-day moving average of $105.83 and a 200 day moving average of $96.40. The firm has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 12.75%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Trust will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Northern Trust’s payout ratio is 37.31%.

Insider Activity

In other Northern Trust news, EVP Thomas A. South sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.80, for a total transaction of $529,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 49,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,264,184.80. This represents a 9.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total transaction of $1,698,972.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,397 shares in the company, valued at $462,476.46. The trade was a 78.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,253 shares of company stock valued at $3,238,073 in the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northern Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTRS. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 378 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Northern Trust in the third quarter worth $48,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Company Profile

Northern Trust Corporation, a financial holding company, provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management, and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Servicing and Wealth Management. The Asset Servicing segment offers asset servicing and related services, including custody, fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, investment management, investment risk and analytical services, employee benefit services, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury management, brokerage services, transition management services, banking, and cash management services.